Adjustable equipment rack

ABSTRACT

An equipment rack is disclosed having two opposing structural support frames connected by a plurality of elongated beams defining an adjustable interior volume having a length, width and depth therein. Each opposing support frame has at least two posts defining two opposing sides. The posts are connected by a plurality of elongated cross beams which include a portion that extends outwardly from at least one of the opposing sides. At least two opposing rails are slidably mounted on the plurality of elongated cross beams to permit movement of the rails along the longitudinal axis of the elongated cross beams. Thus, the interior volume of the adjustable equipment rack may be adjusted, e.g., expanded by sliding the opposing rails of each opposing support frame along the plurality of cross beams and into the portion of the cross beams extending beyond the posts.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of a co-pending,commonly assigned provisional patent application entitled “AdjustableServer Rack,” filed on Sep. 27, 2000, and assigned Ser. No. 60/235,714,the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Disclosure

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to an adjustableequipment rack and, more particularly, to an equipment rack whereinfront and rear equipment mounting rails are adjustable to accommodateelectronic equipment of varying sizes, depths and/or configurations.

[0004] 2. Background of the Disclosure

[0005] Presently, in order to get the benefit of an open rack withequipment mounting rails that are adjustable, a user either has topurchase an equipment cabinet without sides and doors or an old stylefour post open rack. A disadvantage of using equipment cabinets is thatsuch cabinets are significantly more expensive than a four post openrack and provide less room for accessing and storing equipment. Adisadvantage of using prior four post open racks is that the posts inprior racks are also the mounting rails. Thus, the posts cannot beadjusted to varying depths once the rack is assembled and installed. Inaddition, prior four-post racks lack a sufficient range of adjustment tosatisfy all installation requirements. Typically, a plurality of racksmust be purchased, the racks being sized to fit the various pieces ofequipment to be installed.

[0006] Thus, based on the problems with prior racks described above,there is a strong need for a rack that is adjustable, versatile, andable to accommodate equipment of various sizes, depths and/orconfigurations, to provide an inexpensive and efficient means of storingsuch equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0007] The equipment rack disclosed herein provides a remedy for theproblems associated with prior devices and/or systems. An adjustableequipment rack is disclosed having two opposing structural supportframes connected by a plurality of elongated beams defining anadjustable interior volume having a length, width and depth therein.Each opposing support frame has at least two posts defining two opposingsides. The posts are connected by a plurality of elongated cross beamswhich include a portion that extends outwardly from at least one of theopposing sides. At least two opposing rails are slidably mounted on theplurality of elongated cross beams to permit movement of the rails alongthe longitudinal axis of the elongated cross beams. Thus, the interiorvolume of the adjustable equipment rack may be adjusted, e.g., expandedby sliding the opposing rails of each opposing support frame along theplurality of cross beams and into the portion of the cross beamsextending beyond the posts. Other features and benefits of the disclosedadjustable equipment rack will be apparent from the detailed descriptionand accompanying figures which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] So that those of ordinary skill in the art to which the subjectdisclosure pertains will more readily understand how to make and use theadjustable equipment rack of the present disclosure as described herein,preferred and/or exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the included figures, wherein:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an adjustable equipment rack madein accordance with the present disclosure;

[0010]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an upper portion of theadjustable equipment rack shown in FIG. 1 made in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

[0011]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of theadjustable equipment rack, taken from FIG. 2, detailing the assembly ofan equipment mounting rail to a carrier beam;

[0012]FIG. 4 is a sectional plan view of a portion of the adjustableequipment rack, taken from FIG. 2, detailing the relationship between anthe equipment mounting rail and the carrier beam; and

[0013]FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the left hand side of an adjustableequipment rack made in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0014] The following detailed description of preferred and/or exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure is intended to be read in thelight of, or in context with, the preceding summary and backgrounddescriptions. Unless otherwise apparent, or stated, directionalreferences, such as “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “front” and “rear”,are intended to be relative to the orientation of a particularembodiment of the disclosure as shown in the first numbered view of thatembodiment. Also, a given reference numeral should be understood toindicate the same or a similar structure when it appears in differentfigures.

[0015] Referring to FIG. 1, an adjustable equipment rack 10 isillustrated which includes two elongated structural support members,i.e., frame members 12 and 14, respectively. Frame member 12 is referredto herein as the left-hand (“LH”) frame and frame member 14 is referredto herein as the right-hand (“RH”) frame solely for convenience sakewhen referring to the orientation of rack 10 as illustrated in theFigures. The LH frame 12 includes a front corner post 16 and rear cornerpost 18 connected with top, middle, and lower elongated carrier beams20, 22, and 24, respectively. The RH frame 14 includes a front cornerpost 26 and a rear corner post 28 connected with top, middle, and lowercarrier beams 30, 32, and 34, respectively. The carrier beams haveC-shaped cross-sections, although carrier beams of other cross-sectionalconfigurations are contemplated and may be used. Individual parts and/orcomponents of frames 12, 14 may be joined or connected by a number ofdifferent methods including, but not limited to, welding, brazing,adhering, riveting, and bolting.

[0016] The LH frame 12 and RH frame 14 are connected by their upper endswith a front crossmember 36 and a rear crossmember 38. The LH frame 12and RH frame 14 are connected, e.g., bolted, at or adjacent their lowerends by a front base angle 40 and a rear base angle 42.

[0017] Two equipment mounting rails 44 and 46 are adjustably mounted tothe top, middle, and lower carrier beams 20, 22, and 24, respectively,of the LH frame 12. Two equipment mounting rails 48 and 50 are alsoadjustably mounted to the top, middle, and lower carrier beams 30, 32,and 34, respectively, of the RH frame 14. The equipment mounting railsmay be, for example, standard EIA rails, which are well known by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art.

[0018] Each equipment mounting rail is adjustably mounted to eachcarrier beam with a cap screw 52 threaded to a channel nut and springassembly 54. Preferably, and as shown, the open end of each carrier beamis capped with an end cap 56 to prevent the channel nut and springassemblies 54, and the equipment mounting rails as well, from detachingfrom the associated carrier beams. The end caps 56 may be joined orconnected to the carrier beams by a number of different methodsincluding, but not limited to, welding, brazing, adhering, riveting, andbolting.

[0019] Posts 16, 18, 26 and 28 define an interior volume which may beexpanded along the longitudinal axis defined by cross beams 20, 22, 24,30, 32, and 34 by sliding mounting rails 44, 46, 48 and 50 along theportions of cross beams 20, 22, 24, 30, 32 and 34 which extend beyondthe interior volume defined by posts 16, 18, 26 and 28, thus defining asecond adjustable volume. Exemplary dimensions for the parameters thatdefine the interior volume and second adjustable volume include:

[0020] D, which may be about 23.75 inches or 0.603 meters;

[0021] L, which may be about 84 inches or 2.13 meters; and

[0022] W, which may be about 34 inches or 0.864 meters.

[0023] It is understood that the above-noted dimensions are merelyexemplary dimensions associated with a preferred embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and that one or more of the above-noted dimensionsmay be altered for various reasons, e.g., based on characteristics ofthe equipment to be installed, and that equipment racks incorporatedsuch altered dimensions shall be within the purview of the presentdisclosure.

[0024] Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is illustrated in FIG. 3 anexploded perspective view of a portion of the adjustable equipment rack,taken from FIG. 2, detailing the assembly of equipment mounting rail 48to carrier beam 30. In FIG. 4, a sectional plan view of a portion of theadjustable equipment rack, taken from FIG. 2, is provided detailing therelationship between equipment mounting rail 48 and carrier beam 30 whenassembled.

[0025] The channel nut and spring assembly 54 is generally assembled tothe RH top carrier beam 30 by slightly compressing the spring andslipping the assembly into the open end of the carrier beam 30. End cap56 is generally assembled to the open end of the carrier beam 30 andsecured in position, for example, by welding. Equipment mounting rail 48is positioned with its mounting holes aligned with threaded holes intheir respective channel nut and spring assemblies 54 and attached usingcap screws 52. The cap screws 52 of each carrier beam are initially leftloose and tightened only after their final positions are determined. Theequipment mounting rails are slid along the carrier rails in a directionnormal to the longitudinal plane of the RH and LH frames, as illustratedby arrow 55 in FIG. 4, thus advantageously facilitating the mounting ofelectronic equipment of various depth.

[0026] The adjustable equipment rack 10 is flexible in that more thantwo equipment mounting rails can be attached to each frame. Furthermore,the equipment mounting rails can be shortened, for example, to provideattachment points in only the upper or lower section of the rack 10.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 5, an elevation view of the left-hand side ofan exemplary adjustable equipment rack 110 is illustrated. A full-depthelectronic drawer 60 is shown mounted to equipment mounting rails 44,46, 48, and 50. In addition, a half-depth electronic drawer 62 is shownmounted to equipment mounting rails 44 and 48, a left-hand half-heightequipment mounting rail 58, and a right-hand half-height equipmentmounting rail (not shown).

[0028] Front and back base angles 40 and 42 are shown with their lowerflanges extending outwardly. Base angles 40 and 42 are generallyreversible. This allows them to be mounted outwards (as shown) for awider stance if the rack is to be free standing, or inwards to give afootprint within a square of predetermined dimension, e.g., a 24″ by 24″(0.61 m by 0.61 m) square. An advantage associated with keeping thefootprint within the exemplary 24″ by 24″ square is that raised floorpanels in front and behind a row of equipment racks can be removed evenwhen the rack is adjusted to hold up to 34″ (0.864 m) deep equipment,thereby making wiring the installation significantly easier and moreefficient.

[0029] Described above are exemplary adjustable equipment racks thatprovide substantial improvements over existing prior art equipmentracks. Advantageously, the equipment mounting rails can be adjustedindependent of the frame so that the rails can be adjusted, e.g., from6″ to 34″, at any time (e.g., after the rack has been assembled andsecured to the floor). In addition, two or more carrier beams may beused to support two or more equipment mounting rails. The length of theequipment mounting rails can be full height (i.e., the height of therack) or any length shorter to facilitate the particular installation.

[0030] Although the adjustable equipment rack of the subject disclosurehas been described as a one or more preferred embodiments, it isapparent that modifications and changes thereto can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An adjustable equipment rack comprising: aleft-hand frame including at least two left-hand carrier beams orientedhorizontally; a right-hand frame attached to the left-hand frame andincluding at least two right-hand carrier beams oriented horizontally,said at least two right-hand carrier beams oriented in facing, parallelrelationship with respect to said at least two left-hand carrier beams;at least two left-hand mounting rails defining a plurality of left-handattachment points and adjustably mounted for horizontal movementrelative to two or more of the at least two left-hand carrier beams; andat least two right-hand mounting rails defining a plurality ofright-hand attachment points and adjustably mounted for horizontalmovement relative to two or more of the at least two right-hand carrierbeams.
 2. An adjustable equipment rack as recited in claim 1, whereinthe left-hand and right-hand carrier beams are C-shaped in crosssection.
 3. An adjustable equipment rack as recited in claim 2, whereinthe at least two left-hand and at least two right-hand mounting railsare adjustably attached to the at least two left-hand and at least tworight-hand carrier beams, respectively, with screws extending througheach mounting rail proximate the carrier beams and channel nutspositioned within each respective C-shaped channel.
 4. An adjustableequipment rack as recited in claim 3, further comprising a springattached to each channel nut.
 5. An adjustable equipment rack as recitedin claim 3, further comprising an end cap mounted to the open end ofeach carrier beam.
 6. An adjustable equipment rack as recited in claim1, wherein the at least two left-hand mounting rails and at least tworight-hand mounting rails are full-height rails.
 7. An adjustableequipment rack as recited in claim 1, further comprising a half-heightleft-hand mounting rail defining a plurality of attachment points andadjustably mounted for horizontal movement to two or more of the atleast two left-hand carrier beams and a half-height right-hand mountingrail defining a plurality of attachment points and adjustably mountedfor horizontal movement to two or more of the at least two right-handcarrier beams.
 8. An adjustable equipment rack as recited in claim 1,further comprising a front base angle mounted to the left-hand andright-hand frame and a rear base angle mounted to the left-hand andright-hand frame for supporting the adjustable equipment rack.
 9. Anadjustable equipment rack comprising two opposing support framesdefining an interior volume having a length, width and depth therein,each opposing support frame including two posts defining opposing sides,wherein each post is connected by a plurality of elongated cross beamshaving portions extending outwardly from at least one of the opposingsides; and at least two opposing rails slidably mounted on the pluralityof elongated cross beams of the opposing support frames to permitmovement of the rails along the longitudinal axis of the elongated crossbeams.